By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
SA Police Services (SAPS) arrested three suspects following the discovery of a mandrax drug lab in Meadowlands, Soweto, West of Johannesburg.
This brings to 12 the number of drug labs found around the country this year.
Last week, police uncovered a suspected multi-million-rand drug manufacturing laboratory at a farm in Krugersdorp also west of Johannesburg.
Crime Intelligence and the Hawks found quantities of mandrax and ecstasy tablets at the premises, where five suspects were arrested.
SAPS spokesperson Amanda van Wyk said, says the suspects were arrested after three large packets of tik weighing over 300 grams were seized.
She said, the suspects are aged 21, 24 and 25.
South Africa hosted regional police and security leaders in Pretoria on Thursday to strengthen cooperation against drug trafficking and transnational organised crime, with discussions set to include a proposed regional centre to improve intelligence-sharing and coordinate joint law enforcement operations.
The Ministerial Troika Meeting of the Trilateral Planning Cell (TPC) – hosted by the South African Police Service (SAPS) – was led by Minister of Police, Firoz Cachalia, accompanied by the Deputy Ministers of Police, Dr Polly Boshielo and Cassel Mathale.
The TPC is a multilateral initiative established in Maputo, Mozambique, by ministers responsible for policing in South Africa, Mozambique and Tanzania, with the support of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Van Wyk said, “A new framework for cooperation was developed to enhance transnational collaboration among TPC member countries. The framework seeks to facilitate direct police-to-police engagements, enable the timely exchange of operational intelligence, strengthen the profiling of drug trafficking syndicates, and improve the detection of illicit drugs and associated criminal activities, particularly at border points.”
The meeting was held under the theme: “Strengthening Transnational Coordination to Better Identify External Factors Contributing to Organised Crime in the Trilateral States”. It brought together key regional and international stakeholders to discuss collaborative strategies to combat drug trafficking and transnational organised crime.